Add Vertical Interest to Your Garden – How to Choose the Best Climbing Plants

Climbing plants can be a beautiful addition to any house and garden as they can add interest and depth to simple outdoor spaces. They provide shade in hot summer days and can help hide any unsightly fence or wall. They also help reduce stress, reduce background noise and improve air quality. According to botanists, climbing plants can be divided into two main groups: vines and bines. Bines usually need an object for support while vines have special stems or tendrils to support themselves. So, how do you choose the best climbing plants for your garden? Here are a few simple tips.

Choose versatile clematis

Due to their versatility, these climbing flowers can be grown in a container, up a tree, up a wall, can be left to climb over a climber or can be left to scramble horizontally along a fence or a wall. Depending on their flowering time, clematis flowers come in three different pruning groups. It is important to keep their roots in a cool spot and in shade. Plant them in moisture-retentive but free-draining soil and don’t forget to prune them so they grow stronger and flower beautifully. Depending on their flowering time, they will need pruning at different times of the year. For example, clematis such as Clematis Montana, C. Armandii and Clematis Alpina need to be pruned in middle to late spring. The second group contains the large-flowered hybrids that need to be pruned in late winter and early spring. The last group is the one that flowers in late summer, so it is best to prune these flowers in late winter and early spring too.

Create a frame of roses

Growing roses up an arch or an arbor is a great way to add a little drama to your garden. Climbing flowers that are grown this way can act as a divider or as a focal point. You can also grow your roses up a fence or a wall. In this case, if you want them to have the best chance for flowering, you need to train them horizontally. This way the plant will put all of its energy in producing flowers rather than into extending its growth. Speaking of climbing roses, there are two main groups available: climbers and ramblers. Climbers have larger flowers and bloom repeatedly, while ramblers produce small flowers that last about four to six weeks during summer.

Choose interesting support

Most of the supports and structures we use for growing climbing plants are considered as an outdoor art and plants themselves are creating some form of a living architecture. Plant supports can be made of metal or wood and they can come in any form and color. Once the plants grow, they become a bit heavy so make sure the support, whether it is recycled or regular, is strong enough and won’t fall. Some plants become brutes so make sure you understand the growth of the one you have so you can choose the appropriate structure for it.

Besides planting them in the ground, some climbing plants can also do well in containers. One benefit that comes from growing them in a pot or in a container is that you can control the quality of the soil they are growing in. Fertilize your plants regularly – in case you opt for a multi-purpose compost, water-retaining granules are a must and you should use them right before planting the plants.